On the contribution of mass spectrometry-based platforms to the field of personalized oncology

Publication date: Available online 9 November 2018Source: TrAC Trends in Analytical ChemistryAuthor(s): Eleonora Orlando, Ruedi AebersoldAbstractOver the last decades, the increasing technical ability to generate extensive molecular profiles of cancer patient cohorts was accompanied by the notion that anticancer strategies could be tailored to the individual patient, thus giving rise to personalized approaches. Implicit in this development is the need to establish informative molecular profiles to guide clinical decisions. Although at present the richest source of cancer molecular signatures derives from genomic studies, it is the proteome that constitutes the key determinant to the cancer phenotype. Importantly, the proteomic differences distinguishing cancer and control samples can neither be accurately inferred nor predicted. In this respect, mass spectrometry (MS) emerged as a valuable tool to aid further dissection of cancer proteome hallmarks. In this review we highlight the major recent advances in the field of MS and we discuss the contribution of each MS-based platform to address the key pillars of any precision medicine-based anticancer approach.
Source: TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research